–Diamond Diagnostic Centre, Nicholson Hospital to be upgraded to regional hospitals
THE Diamond Diagnostic Centre and the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital will be upgraded to regional hospitals under a two-year plan to lighten the current burden on the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the country’s main referral hospital.
The improvement plan will be backed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and by funding from the local treasury, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence said.
She made the announcement during a recent meeting with councillors of the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC), Triumph, East Coast Demerara head office.
In a press statement on Sunday, the Public Health Ministry said the multimillion- dollar transformation plan will commence early in 2018 following the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among the Ministries of Public Health and Communities and the Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica) RDC.
Minister Lawrence, who unveiled the proposed pact, said to be in its “embryonic stage,” explained that upgrading the two health institutions is necessary to help reduce the work load at GPHC, minimise the likelihood of errors made by fatigued hospital staff and enable better daily management of the tertiary health institutions.
“Everyone wants to live in Region Four and the problem (of overcrowding at the GPHC and exhausted staff) is [sic] not going away. It is growing. It is a well-known fact that the GPHC is over-run by patients from all 10 administrative regions,” the public health minister noted.
She pointed out that the GPHC attends to some 30,000 patients annually, while the number of beds at the tertiary health institution declined from a high of some 1,800 to only 440.
The GPHC’s inability to attend to the growing number of patients is also reflected in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit which has only 18 beds to cater for men, women and children, Minister Lawrence further noted.
PRUDENT TO UPGRADE
“Because of these shortcomings, the MoPH thinks it is prudent to upgrade the two primary health institutions on the East Coast and East Bank to cater for victims of road accidents, violent crimes, domestic and intimate partner violence and other types of crimes in Region Four, which boasts the highest figure in every category of violence. This is so because Demerara/Mahaica is the most populated region in the country,” she reasoned.
The upgrading plan is also to fulfil its “good life” promise and vision to the nation on which the APNU+AFC coalition campaigned during the 2015 elections campaign, which saw it deposing the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) coalition after 23 continuous years in office, Minister Lawrence said.
The improvement plan for the two primary health institutions needs the multipartite accord since responsibility for the health sector is spread among the 10 regions and the Ministries of Community and Health.
The three sides held talks earlier to find common ground to help transform the two institutions and “after lengthy discussions, I thought it was prudent that you the representatives should be brought up to date about the plans by the MoPH.” Region Four RDC Chairman Genevieve Allen told councillors at the specially held meeting addressed by Minister Lawrence.
All Region Four councillors are backing the government’s health vision with PPP/C Councillor and its RDC Chief Whip, Desmond Morian, dubbing the plan as “timely [and] the way to go.” In return for their support, Morian wants Lawrence to provide documentation so that she becomes “answerable and accountable for what she has promised.”
Another PPP/C Councillor, Everton Pole, “loves the intervention by the MoPH” but asked for clarity on the division of power between the region and the two government ministries
New housing programmes on the two corridors have contributed to increasing pressures also faced by the Diamond Diagnostic Centre and the Dr. C. C. Nicholson Hospital, and under the improvement plan, the IDB, PAHO/WHO and government’s backing will help bolster physical infrastructure, hiring of new staff and other key planks under the health accord to have the two institutions “running on a 24-hour basis,” Minister Lawrence said.
“We want to ensure we can provide the level of service at the two primary institutions so that patients don’t have to be pronounced dead onarrival (DOA) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC),” she emphasised.
